Overseas home owners fork out for unexpected costs

Forty per cent of overseas property owners admit they have needed to pay out extra on unexpected maintenance costs that they did not budget for, according to research from Post Office International Payments.

The top maintenance costs which overseas homeowners need to shell out for include:

Council tax
Shared maintenance fees for upkeep of communal areas
Central heating
Air conditioning
Gardener
Cleaner

There are 1.2 million people owning a property abroad, and 97 per cent of them transfer money from the UK for the maintenance of their home overseas.  However, with fluctuating exchange rates and excessive transfer fees charged by banks, overseas property owners could unknowingly be paying over the odds for their council tax, heating and gardeners, and even more for maintenance costs they didn't budget for.

With two thirds (65 per cent) of overseas property owners transferring money occasionally from sterling into local currency and a further quarter (26 per cent) transferring money regularly to maintain their home abroad, holiday home owners using banks are being repeatedly hit by transfer charges.  Some banks charge as much as £42.50 per transaction, which over a year of monthly payments adds up to an extra £510.  Urgent and unplanned transactions can sometimes result in even higher charges.

Despite recent fluctuations in the euro, France is the number one destination for owning a property abroad (41 per cent) followed by Spain (38 per cent) and Portugal (5 per cent).  Expats in France are most likely to have bought a farmhouse (66 per cent) or a cottage (28 per cent) compared to expats in Spain who are most likely to have a flat (68 per cent) or villa (57 per cent).

Post Office Head of International Payments, Sarah Munro said: "Just like buying a home in the UK, buying an overseas property comes with a variety of costs, other than just the initial purchase price. .  While local services can initially appear cheaper than the equivalent in the UK, overseas property owners can be stung with higher bills due to being charged  fees for transferring money abroad.

"Services such as the Post Office's International Payments allow customers to move money abroad without transfer fees or commission charges.  Its regular payments facility removes the hassle of having to make repeat transactions and customers can also benefit from the ability to fix for a year at a competitive exchange rate allowing you to budget more easily and avoid any nasty surprises.  Those who have a property abroad should ensure they fully research their money transfer service to ensure they are not being charged to move their money."

This service, which was formerly named Post Office Overseas Property Money Transfers, re-launched as Post Office International Payments on 9 August 2010.

It is not restricted to payments relating to managing property overseas, but can be used to make bank-to-bank money transfers for a wide range of purposes such as pension income, school fees or wedding costs. 

Find out more about Post Office International Payments by visiting postoffice.co.uk/internationalpayments.  Transfers must be a minimum of £250 and those under £20,000 should be made online. Payments over £20,000 are handled by our telephone service where a specialist team member will offer clear guidance and quotes tailored to the customer's specific needs.

Those wishing to make a cash transfer abroad can use the MoneyGram service available at all 12,000 UK Post Office branches - offering almost immediate cash transfers to over 176,000 destinations worldwide from any branch.